I am not a professional technician, but I do have a strong interest in the technical aspects of pianos, do some tuning of my own, and have dealt with perhaps two dozen technicians in the eight years I've been playing. And I can say that my observation is that the more a tuner leans toward being a musician, the more he/she seems accept the the differences in tone quality between various (good) pianos (not Kimballs). The tuners I've met who are more technician than musician will always say "get a Yahama." IMO, that's because it's easier to hear the partials on a Yahama, they're hardly ever out of regulation, and therefore they're "better" pianos. Aside from technicians, I have also observed that there are surprisingly few musicians (of any levels of achievment) who have a very clear and distinct idea of precisely what kind of voice they want from a piano. The number of piano-playing people I've met and talked to about this is probably fewer than 75, so this is a rather small sampling, but those who actually -did- know exactly what they wanted virtually all owned either a Steinway that they'd spent a lot of time voicing and fussing with, or some kind of North German piano that they've simply paid a lot of money for. And among this small group of perhaps 10 people, only one played a Yahama, and this person was a teacher, a recent Russian emigre, and a superb performer and reader, who'd had it loaned to her, and who told me she was looking for (but couldn't find) an Ibach. FWIW, these are my actual observations. George Gilliland >Hi Travis, >This probably has something to do with the kind of piano that tunes very >poorly yet plays and sounds good playing music as compared to a piano that >tunes well but has no soul.. A mystery. Good thing we all like different >things. Think of the shortages if everyone wanted the same thing. > Regards, >James Grebe >R.P.T. of the P.T.G. from St. Louis, MO. USA, Earth >pianoman@inlink.com >"A wonderful thing happens when you start promoting--Opportunities for >work.". > >---------- >> From: Travis Gordy <tgordy@horizon.hit.net> >> To: pianotech@ptg.org >> Subject: Re: A Curious Statement >> Date: Tuesday, April 28, 1998 11:52 AM >> >> James: As an aural tuner i knew at once why "buy the Yamaha and make >your >> tuner happy" was said. I shall never forget my first experience tuning a >> Yamaha console. It was some time in the 1950s. I had never heard of >> Yamaha or any other Japanese piano. The tone was so pure and clean and >> stable and sterile (all the reasons some people prefer American and other >> makes) that I was enthralled. I did not know a piano could be made to >> sound that good. I could easily hear everything I was supposed to hear >to >> set a good temperament and complete tuning. Why couldn't American >> manufacturers make pianos that good? To this day I find Yamaha and Kawai >> pianos the most satisfying to tune. >> >> Now listen me out before jumping in. My mother was a fine musician and >> piano teacher with two Steinways she called professional uprights. K-52s >I >> guess. At the request of the parents of one of her pupils I recommended >> they buy my favorite studio, a Yamaha U1. I was anxious for mother to >> experience the beautiful sound. She couldn't stand it. Why did I think >it >> so great? I was speechless, and I learned an important lesson. Many >people >> do not like the "sterile" sound. She was hooked on the Steinway sound and >I >> don't knock that one bit. I have since observed that what I find the >> easiest and most satisfying to tune does not always give the most >> satisfying concert experience. If I was a pianist I would better >> understand the difference. Recently a teacher I tune for selected a >> Steinway B over a Yamaha C7, saying there was no comparison. She had >been >> using a poorly rebuilt Steinway L for many years. In the ' 70s another >> teacher customer selected a Kimball 5' 8"over a Kawai 5' 10" saying she >> couldn"t get the sound she wanted from the Kawai. (IMHO that Kimball was >> the poorest piano being made at that time.) Many people that grew up >with >> what I call the American sound spinets and consoles do not like the >softer >> more mellow less brilliant imported pianos. I think it unfortunate that >> Baldwin is now making there small pianos like some imports with almost no >> sustain (or sound) in the top two octaves. IMO >> >> Travis Gordy RPT >> ---------- >> > From: pianoman <pianoman@inlink.com> >> > To: pianotech@ptg.org >> > Subject: A Curious Statement >> > Date: Tuesday, April 28, 1998 6:49 AM >> > >> > Hi List, >> > In the discussion on Petrof Vs Yamaha C-3 someone said to purchase to >buy >> > the Yamaha and make your tuner happy. A curious statement at best. >Why >> > would that makes piano tuners happy? Could it be consistent quality, >> > consistent tone, consistent great factory assistance if needed, >> consistent >> > everything I can possibly think of. >> > I have never seen a Petrof live, only seen pictures and read about >> them. >> > My question is that if it makes the tuner happy, how can that be so bad >> > knowing the things I look for in a piano to make it enduring. >> > James Grebe >> > R.P.T. of the P.T.G. from St. Louis, MO. USA, Earth >> > pianoman@inlink.com >> > "A wonderful thing happens when you start promoting--Opportunities for >> > work.". >> > ---------------------- Little Garden Design 134 Broad Street 2nd Floor Stroudsburg PA 18360 717 422 1255 717 422 1257 (fax) ----------------------
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